Kansas City, Mo. ? There’s no sign telling drivers that Kathy LaFrensen has “adopted” part of Red Bridge Road, but the south Kansas City woman is out there two or three times a week picking up litter.

Pride in her neighborhood keeps LaFrensen going as she fills up to three large bags at a time with trash tossed from passing motor vehicles.

“It’s dirty! We just hate driving by all this trash, and it continues to fly out of people’s (car) windows,” she said.

LaFrensen has a full-time job arranging displays in retail stores, but her flexible hours allow her to devote about 90 minutes to Red Bridge Road two or three times a week.

Because the two-lane road is winding and busy, she likes to work early before the traffic gets heavy.

“As the years have gone along it has been easy to continue to do it,” she said, “because once you get started you want to keep up with it.”

For her efforts on Red Bridge Road, as well as along other city roads, LaFrensen was recognized in this month by the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation with a resolution of praise.

“Partnerships are very important to us,” said Steve Lampone, director of operations for the park department. “Often, we think of bigger groups and organizations. But there are a whole lot of individual partnerships out there.”